NCAA Tournament update: Virginia's Isaiah Wilkins doubtful vs Florida

Virginia coach Tony Bennett says leading rebounder Isaiah Wilkins is doubtful to play against No. 4 seed Florida on Saturday night in Orlando, Florida, because of strep throat.

The 6-foot-7 junior is averaging 6.8 points and 6.0 rebounds, and Bennett calls him the "heart and soul of our defense." Wilkins also leads the team in blocks (43) and steals (33).

"This virus is hanging on, and he's lost some weight," Bennett said. "I'm not expecting him to play, but you never know."

Wilkins played just 5 minutes in the Cavaliers' opening-round game against UNC Wilmington on Thursday. Because of his illness, the fifth-seeded Cavs went with a five-guard lineup in their 76-71 victory against the Seahawks.

They don't plan on doing that against the Gators, so getting something from Wilkins would be ideal.

1:55 p.m.

Iona star Jordan Washington went down hard under Oregon's basket, screaming in pain after grabbing above his left shin area. He limped off with help at the 1:12 mark of the first half and Iona trailing the third-seeded Ducks 52-35 in the first round of the Midwest Regional at Sacramento's Golden 1 Center.

Washington brought energy on both ends to lead No. 14 seed Iona, driving for a pretty spin move with 11:46 left in the first half then taking a charge from Dorsey moments later. He then drew another one.

He had 14 points and five rebounds when he left the court, having scored 14 of his team's initial 18 points. Oregon led 55-37 at halftime.

1:40 p.m.

Oklahoma State lost a tough one to Michigan, but the Cowboys' financial backers won in the process.

When Oklahoma State guard Jawun Evans hit a running 3-pointer at the horn to make the final score Michigan 92, Oklahoma State 91, Evans did a solid for folks who put money on the Cowboys.

The seventh-seeded Wolverines entered the game as a 2.5-point favorite. Evans' heave - his only made 3-pointer in a game in which he finished with 23 points - meant the 10th-seeded Cowboys covered the spread.

So much for entertainment purposes only.

1:30 p.m.

Arkansas forward Moses Kingsley is having quite a start to his NCAA Tournament.

The 6-foot-10 senior had 15 points on 7-for-9 shooting — including a 3-pointer — during the first half of the eighth-seeded Razorbacks' South Region opener against ninth-seeded Seton Hall. He came in averaging 11.8 points on 46-percent shooting.

In his last action, the preseason Southeastern Conference player of the year was called for a late flagrant foul and ejected in the last weekend's loss to Kentucky in the SEC Tournament championship game.

The teams were tied 37-all at halftime.

12:40 p.m.

A historic season for Baylor is in danger of ending with a disappointing thud.

The third-seeded Bears trail 14th-seed New Mexico State 40-38 at the break. Baylor is no stranger to NCAA disappointment. Last spring the Bears came into the tournament as a fifth seed and fell to 12th-seeded Yale in the opening round of the tournament.

The Aggies are no stranger to the NCAAs, having reached the tourney in six of the last eight years. It's been awhile, though, since New Mexico State has advanced. The Aggies' last NCAA victory came in 1993 when they beat Nebraska in the first round.

12:30 p.m.

An NCAA Tournament game is underway in South Carolina for the first time in 15 years.

Arkansas and Seton Hall tipped off Friday's slate of four games in Greenville, which last hosted the tournament in 2002. The reasons — both for the long absence and the return — are rooted in state-level politics in the Carolinas.

The NCAA had banned South Carolina from as a predetermined-site host due to the presence of a Confederate flag on state capitol grounds, though that was lifted after the flag's removal in 2015. And the NCAA stripped opening-weekend games from Greensboro, North Carolina, last fall and moved them here after that state passed a law limiting protections for LGBT people.

South No. 1 seed North Carolina and East No. 2 seed Duke are also playing in Greenville, games that should've been held roughly an hour from their campuses in their home state.

11:45 a.m.

So you're pretty pleased with your brackets after nailing all your picks during Day 1 of the tournament?

Don't get too excited, you're hardly alone.

ESPN says there were over 154,000 perfect brackets out of over 18 million entered in the site's bracket challenge.

Things figure to get a bit messy as Day 2 ramps up, though a head start in your office pool is never a bad thing. As far as keeping it going all the way through the championship game, the odds of going a perfect 63 for 63 is one literally one in a billion. But like Jim Carrey so famously said in "Dumb & Dumber" ''so you're saying there's a chance?"

Day 2 won't have much work to do if it wants to top a decidedly staid Day 1.

The higher seeds went 14-2 on Thursday, the only upsets coming by 12th-seeded Middle Tennessee and 11th seeded Xavier.

The rest of the field gets underway Friday, with streaking Big Ten champion Michigan taking on 10th-seeded Oklahoma State at 12:15 p.m EST. The early games include third-seeded Baylor against 14th-seeded New Mexico State, eighth-seeded Arkansas against ninth-seeded Seton Hall and third-seeded Oregon against 14th-seed Iona.

Top seeds North Carolina and Kansas get started a little later.

The upset alert button will be ready for 10th-seeded Wichita State against seventh-seeded Dayton in the South Region. Over 70 percent of brackets on Yahoo opted for the Shockers over the Flyers.

11:30 a.m.

New Mexico State and Baylor will take March Madness all over the world.

Their NCAA Tournament game in Tulsa, Oklahoma, will feature 10 players who were born outside of the United States. New Mexico State has seven, and its coach, Paul Weir, is from Toronto. France, Ivory Coast, Kenya, India, Australia, Belgium, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Canada all will be represented by birth or heritage when the two teams take the court.

The NBA had a record 113 international players on opening-day rosters this season, and Weir said the college game is following. More than half the 68 teams in the NCAA Tournament had at least one player from another country on their rosters at the start of the season. Saint Mary's alone has seven Australians on its roster.

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